With Portugal in the grip of a heatwave, a wildfire broke out on Aug. 5, 2023, south of Odemira in the Alentejo region in southern Portugal. This image, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite mission, shows the fire on Aug. 7, 2023.
The smoke billowing from the fire and being blown toward the Atlantic is clear to see in this true-color Sentinel-2 image. The image has been overlaid with information from the satellite instrument’s shortwave infrared channels to highlight the emitting heat sources which, in this case, can be linked to the fire front.
News reports state that there are hundreds of firefighters trying to tackle the blaze, but fire is spreading southwards towards the Algarve, a tourist destination.
Image Credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2023), processed by ESA
